Just Chill

If it weren't for the seascape, you might think you were on land due to this eclectic decor.

Surrounded by an atmosphere that's this unusual and visually stimulating, you might wonder how well the owner can follow the directive of his 115-foot yacht's name: Be Cool. But cool he is, judging from his eclectic taste in decor and furnishings, and he'll stay cool with the abundance of alfresco areas aboard this Admiral 35.

The Admiral 35 is part of a line better known as Admiral Mariotti Yachts (AMY), built by Cantieri Navali Lavagna (CNL) in partnership with the T. Mariotti shipyards in Genoa, Italy. While AMY and CNL may not be familiar to most Americans, that situation should change in the coming years, as CNL has plans to expand across the pond.

Specifications

Builder: OTHER

The metallic paint job only hints at the unusual overall design.

One of the things that bodes well for future success here is the fact that CNL offers owners full customization of interiors. In these days of so many spec yachts and nearly full-production megayachts upwards of 150 feet LOA, it's unusual to find a yacht (and an all-aluminum one, at that) as "small" as this with the owner's imprint everywhere.

Take Be Cool's saloon (above), for example. That's a 100-year-old, natural-oak sole you see, which continues on into the dining room and galley. The yard cut it to a special thickness for the owner: 11 millimeters versus the traditional 15, according to Isabella Picco, CNL's marketing manager. The sole as well as the unusual (and yes, deliberately erotic) overhead treatment with small spotlights peeking out are the work of a Rome-based architecture firm that the owner had worked with previously.

More surprises lie below. The owner's stateroom features a titanium bulkhead behind the bed, itself framed in silver leather. The bed is further set off by titanium cabinets to each side as well as titanium on the doors to the closet and en suite head, which features a Turkish bath. Subtle, continuously changing colored lights underscore the hip factor.

The foredeck gym is a refreshing twist.

But perhaps the biggest surprise lies out on deck, below the bow. Instead of the area serving as a tender garage, it's a gym, fitted with a carbon-fiber roof that opens straight up (not hinged like most bow hatches) about ten feet. It's an unconventional design and engineering feat.

That speaks directly to something CNL has been striving for in recent years. When I spoke with Maurizio Baldoni, the yard's vice managing director, at the Monaco Yacht Show, most market-watchers felt CNL, which opened in 1960, has been conservative in its approach to production and design. But Baldoni argues that Be Cool and other projects delivered over the past three years have proven that it's up to the challenge of full-custom construction. And with its continuing research into setting up sales and service stateside, CNL says it's ready to address an entirely new clientele.

With all of that ambition, it's obvious that this yard definitely hasn't followed the laid-back directive of this Admiral 35's name.